Hot stamping pen

[modeller_masa]

I found a useful metal-gold plating tool.

 

 

 

It is a hot stamping pen or a hot foil pen. It uses a heat-activated foil with iron. The iron's temperature is 175~200℃ (350~400℉), so I can't use the pen for plastic kits.

 

There are a lot of colors of heat-activated foil.

 

It seems like a very simple, easy, and intuitive tool. The surface is more shiny than brush painting because it is real aluminium metal. I hope it lasts longer than metal-colored paints. The residues can be cut with a cutter like I handle masking tape. 

 

 

In addition, I saw some videos that the heat-activated foil also works with laser printer toner. With very accurate temperature control, I may add very detailed metal-gold plated patterns on the paper hull.

 

https://www.profoil.com/introduction-toner-foiling/

 

 

 

I'll try the tool on wooden and paper ships.

Edited March 16, 2023 by modeller_masa

[allanyed]

Please follow up on how well this material stays in place and holds its finish.   Thanks for posting this.

Allan

[modeller_masa]

I received the hot stamping tool and the hot stamping foil.

The pen is USB-powered, so I needed an external battery pack. The pen's weight is very light, like a pencil.

The back-adhesive side has a pinky metal color.

I tested the strength of the foil.

 

When I applied it to paper and wood, it was so strong that I couldn't remove it with my nail. I had to scrap it with a chisel blade.

On the contrary, it also works on plastic runners, but it is relatively weak and a bit hard to apply with the default pen.

Metal never attached the foil.

When I tried to use it bigger than the pen's size, I had several difficulties. The picture shows many pen strokes.

I tried to apply it on a wide surface with a leather work iron. I set the temperature at 125℃. (250℉) Unfortunately, the foil was so sensitive that it didn't allow for a uniform surface. I saw some guides for applying the foil to T-shirts. I guess I need another tool to apply it over a wide area. 

 

The appropriate varnish should only be water-based. When I tested a solvent-based varnish, the gold surface melted or lost the glossy finish.

 

In my opinion, this tool is good for paper and wooden models, especially those with narrow or small areas. For example, a figurehead doesn't need to have a uniformly glossy gold surface. In that case, this hot stamping pen would be a reasonable and intuitive tool with a quick and fast result. It is a bad thing that I can't make copper sheathing plates with the foil...

[Ian B]

fascinating-- never heard of or seen one before--- I'm thinking it could be good for applying fake rivets or weld seem lines ?

Edited March 21, 2023 by Ian B

[Bob Cleek]

In high school, ovver fifty years ago now, I used this heated foil printing process when working in the school library to mark the spines of books with Dewey Decimal System shelving information. We used the foil with a wood-burning pen (small soldering iron) with a small point. The foil came in a range of colors, but we generally only used black and white, depending upon the color of the book's spine. It was easy to use and I never encountered any problems with it rubbing off, even though books in circulation lived a hard life.